Rosie Perez

Rosie Perez
Perez at the New York premiere of Won't Back Down, 2012.
Born	Rosa Maria Perez September 6, 1964 Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.[1]
Other names	Rosa Maria Serrano
Ethnicity	Puerto Rican[2]
Education	Los Angeles City College West Lost Angeles College[3]
Occupation	Actress, dancer, choreographer, director, activist, author
Years active	1986–present
Religion	Catholic[2]
Spouse(s)	Seth Zvi Rosenfeld (m. 1991; div. 2001) Eric Haze (m. 2013)

Rosa Maria "Rosie" Perez (born September 6, 1964)^[4] is an American actress, community activist, talk show host, author, dancer, and choreographer. Her film breakthrough was in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), which she followed with White Men Can't Jump (1992). Among many honors, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Fearless (1993). She was also nominated for three Emmy Awards for her work as a choreographer on In Living Color. In 2007, Perez starred on Broadway as Googie Gomez in a revival of The Ritz, and she was nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for her performance in The Take. Perez was a regular host on The View and in 2015 she returned to Broadway to star in Fish in the Dark, a new play written by Larry David.^[2][5]

Early life

Perez was born in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, to mother Lydia Perez and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine seaman.^[6][7] Her parents, who were both from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico,^[8] were married to other people when they met—she is the product of their affair.^[2][9] She was born at the now-closed Greenpoint Hospital in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.^[10] Perez became a ward of the state when her mother took her from an aunt, who had been raising her. She was transferred to a group foster home at age 3 and lived in foster care in New York and Peekskill until age 8, and was still legally considered a ward of the State of New York until age 12 years. Her mother and aunt frequently visited, and her father made an unsuccessful custody bid at one point.^[2][11] She has five brothers and sisters from her mother's marriage to her mother's first husband, Ventura Perez, but also has additional half-brothers and half-sisters (a total of 10 children).^[11] These life problems left Perez with a speech impediment.^[4] She eventually moved in with paternal aunt, Ana Dominga Otero Serrano-Roque,^[4] and attended Grover Cleveland High School, which is located in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens.^[12] Her mother died of AIDS-related complications in 1999.^[11] Perez considers herself Puerto Rican^[13] and had a strict Catholic upbringing, which she has credited to the influence of the nuns during her childhood.^[4][10][14]

Career

Acting

Perez started her career in the late 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train. As a college student in Los Angeles, majoring in bio-chemistry, to relieve stress she said she would go to nightclubs for ladies night. A talent scout from Soul Train asked her to be on the show. She was not a professional dancer but loved it so much she dropped out of school.^[10] In 1988, when she was 24 years old, Perez was noticed at the dance club Funky Reggae^[15] by Spike Lee, who hired her for her first major acting role in Do the Right Thing.^[16]

Perez later choreographed music videos by Janet Jackson, Bobby Brown, Diana Ross, LL Cool J and The Boys.^[14] She was the choreographer for the dancing group the Fly Girls who were featured on the Fox television comedy program In Living Color and also worked as a segment producer.^[17] She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.^[18] Perez had her third major role in the hit comedy White Men Can't Jump co-starring Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson.

Perez was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Peter Weir's 1993 film Fearless. She attended the ceremony with her father.^[19] In 1997, she starred in Perdita Durango, a controversial film in which many scenes of excessive violence, sex and nudity were edited out of the version released in the United States but remained intact in the version released throughout Latin America.^[20] In 1999, Perez starred in Nancy Savoca's The 24 Hour Woman.^[3] She provides the voices of Click, the camera, on Nick Jr.'s Go, Diego, Go! and Chel, a beautiful native woman in the DreamWorks Animation film The Road to El Dorado. She played corrupt police officer Carol Brazier in the Judd Apatow-produced film Pineapple Express, co-starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. Perez appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer Neal Baer said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother.^[21] She suffered a serious injury during the filming of the episode.^[22] Most recently, Perez is the subject of an album by Felt entitled Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez. Perez was in a Mike Nichols production of The Play What I Wrote.

Injury

Rosie Perez injured her neck in 2009 while filming an episode of Law & Order: SVU and underwent surgery to heal a herniated disc. One year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama.^[23] In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show,^[24] claiming that the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.^[25]

Boxing

Rosie Perez is a huge fan of the sport of boxing. In June 2013, she served as the grand marshal for the International Boxing Hall of Fame parade in Canastota, New York.^[26]

Author

In February 2014, Rosie Perez published an autobiography titled Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling... She is also the reader of the audio CD of this book. Perez said that she didn't initially set out to write an autobiography, but rather a book that analyses the causes and effects of child abuse.^[10] She said it wasn't until about 6 months after the book was published and she heard responses from others that she found the experience cathartic.^[10]

The View

On September 3, 2014, ABC announced Perez would join The View as a new co-host alongside moderator Whoopi Goldberg, newcomer Nicolle Wallace, and returning co-host Rosie O'Donnell.^[27] The new season began on September 15, 2014.^[28][29] Perez said she was initially hesitant about the job because "I didn't want to be on a show where people were just screaming at each other disrespectfully."^[10] She decided to join the cast when she learned that Bill Wolff, whom she knew from The Rachel Maddow Show, was going to be the new executive producer.^[10][30][31] On July 8, 2015, Perez announced she would be leaving The View.

Activism

Perez is an activist for Puerto Rican rights:

• Her film Yo soy Boricua, pa'que tu lo sepas! (I'm Puerto Rican, Just So You Know!) documents her activism.^[8][32]
• She starred in and directed the Spanish AIDS PSA campaign "Join the Fight" for Cable Positive and Kismet Films. The campaign featured actor Wilmer Valderrama, BET's Julissa Bermudez, Telenovela actor Erick Elías, singer/actress Lorena Rojas, 2006–2007 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera and actress Judy Marte. An English-language campaign was also directed by Liev Schreiber.
• President Barack Obama appointed her to The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She was sworn in on February 2, 2010.
• On January 6, 2000, she was arrested for disorderly conduct in Manhattan following a rally to protest U.S. Navy air weapons training, as well as other forms of payload on the government training range owned at Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
• Perez serves as the chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership,^[33] a New York City arts education nonprofit that uses arts integrated education programs to close the achievement gap.

Personal life

Perez suffered abuse during her childhood from both her schizophrenic mother and from the nuns at the group home. As a result, she has suffered from high anxiety, PTSD, and a form of depression called dysthymia, but with hard work in therapy it has been greatly reduced.^[2][10][34] Perez married artist Eric Haze on September 15, 2013 in Las Vegas.^[35] They had decided to get married the night before while attending the Floyd Mayweather vs. Saúl Álvarez boxing match.^[36] The couple slept over at the MGM Grand hotel-casino and were married in the morning. They live in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.^[11] Perez was previously married to filmmaker and playwright Seth Zvi Rosenfeld but the couple divorced in 2001 after ten years of marriage.^[35] Perez stated on the Pineapple Express DVD commentary that she is allergic to dairy products. She was a friend of the late rapper and actor Tupac Shakur.^[34]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Do the Right Thing	Tina
1991	Night on Earth	Angela	Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress
1992	White Men Can't Jump	Gloria Clemente	Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress
1993	Untamed Heart	Cindy	Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place)
	Fearless	Carla Rodrigo	Berlin International Film Festival Award for Outstanding Performance (Special Mention) Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress (tied with Anna Paquin) Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place)
1994	It Could Happen to You	Muriel Lang
	Somebody to Love	Mercedes
1997	A Brother's Kiss	Debbie
	Perdita Durango	Perdita Durango	Fantafestival Award for Best Actress
1999	The 24 Hour Woman	Grace Santos	Also Producer Nominated—ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Actress
2000	The Road to El Dorado	Chel	Voice
2001	Human Nature	Louise
	Riding in Cars with Boys	Shirley Perro
2003	From the 104th Floor	Narrator	Voice
2004	Exactly	Angela	Short
2005	All the Invisible Children	Ruthie	Segment "Jesus Children of America"
	Yo soy Boricua, pa'que tu lo sepas!	Herself	Director Documentary
2006	Home
	Just Like the Son	Mrs. Ponders
2008	The Take	Marina De La Pena	Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
	Pineapple Express	Officer Carol Brazier
2010	The Other Guys	Herself
	Pete Smalls Is Dead	Julia
2012	Small Apartments	Ms. Baker
	Won't Back Down	Brenna Harper
2013	The Counselor	Ruth
	The Being Experience	Herself
	Gods Behaving Badly	Persephone
2014	The Hero of Color City	Red	Voice
	Fugly!	Zowie
2015	Pitch Perfect 2	The View Host
	Five Nights in Maine	Ann
	Puerto Ricans in Paris	Gloria

TV Films
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Criminal Justice	Barbara Von Busch
1995	In a New Light: Sex Unplugged	Herself	Host
1997	Subway Stories: Tales from the Underground	Mystery Girl	Also producer Segment "Love on the A Train"
2004	Copshop	Heaven
	Lackawanna Blues	Bertha	Television Movie Nominated—Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress – Television Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2006	Lolo's Cafe	Maria	Voice
2009	Exit 19	Lorna
2010	Lies in Plain Sight	Marisol Reyes	Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Female Lead in a Drama Special Nominated—NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated—Imagen Foundation Award for Best Actress – Television

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	21 Jump Street	Rosie Martinez	Episode "2245"
1990	In Living Color	Herself	Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Choreography (1990, 1992, 1993) choreographer, seasons 1–4
1990–1991	WIOU	Lucy Hernandez	Episodes "Without Prejudice" "Labored Relations" "Mother Nature's Son" "They Shoot Sources, Don't They"
1995–1997	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Thumbelina / Witch	Episodes "Thumbelina" "Hanselito y Gretelita"
2002	Widows	Linda Perelli	Episodes "Hour One" "Hour Two" "Hour Three" "Hour Four"
1995–2004	Frasier	Francesca / Lizbeth	Episodes "Roz in the Doghouse (1995)" "Crock Tales (2004)"
2005–2008	Go, Diego, Go!	Click, the camera	Episodes "Diego Saves the Humpback Whale" "Linda the Llama Saves Carnaval" "Diego's Wolf-Pup Rescue" "The Bobos' Mother's Day" "Tuga Helps the Moon" "Freddie the Fruit Bat Saves Halloween!"
2008–2009	Lipstick Jungle	Dahlia Morales	Nominated—ALMA Award for Best Actress in Television – Comedy Episodes "Pandora's Box" "Let It Be" "The F-Word" "The Lyin', the Bitch and the Wardrobe Dahlia Morales" "Thanksgiving" "La Vie En Pose"
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Eva Banks	Episodes "Hardwired"
2011–2012	The Cleveland Show	Choni / Aunt Chonie	Episodes "There Goes El Neighborhood" "Y Tu Junior Tambien" Episode #3.11
2012	Nurse Jackie	Jules	Episodes "Slow Growing Monsters"
2014	An American Education	Rita Gomez	Pilot
2014–2015	The View	Co-Host	Nominated—Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host
2014–present	Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero	Aunt Rose	Voice, recurring role

Works or publications

• Bourke, Alison P, Evan Shapiro, Rosie Perez, Roger M. Sherman, Liz Garbus, Rory Kennedy, Jimmy Smits, Kathryn Taverna, Tom Hurwitz, and Carlos Valdez. ¡yo Soy Boricua, Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!: I'm Boricua, Just so You Know! Santa Monica, CA: Genius Entertainment, 2007. ISBN 978-1-594-44303-9
• Perez, Rosie. Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling (with Great Hair). New York : Crown Archetype, 2014. ISBN 978-0-307-95239-4

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans

References

1. CNN - Rosie Perez Memoir
2. Rodriguez, Cindy Y. (1 April 2014). "9 things you didn't know about Rosie Perez". CNN. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
3. Applebome, Peter (14 February 1999). "FILM; Trying to Shake a Stereotype But Keep On Being Rosie Perez". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
4. "Rosie Perez biography". Biography.com. A+E Networks. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
5. Frank, Alex (15 September 2014). "To Celebrate Her Debut as a Cohost of The View, a Look at the Career Highlights of Rosie Perez". Vogue. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
6. Carvajal, Doreen (8 April 2001). "John Ortiz and Rosie Perez: Accidental Actors". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
7. Freeman, Sierra (12 May 2006). "Why Puerto Ricans are So Damn Proud". Indypendent. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
8. Berman Santana, Déborah (Fall 2007). "Yo Soy Boricua, Pa’ Que Tu Lo Sepas" (PDF). Centro journal (Hunter College, Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños) XIX (2): 262–265. ISSN 2163-2960. OCLC 51876413. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
9. Weigle, Lauren (15 September 2014). "Rosie Perez, ‘The View': 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
10. King, Larry (13 October 2014). "Rosie Perez" (Video interview). Larry King Now. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
11. Connelly, Sherryl (16 February 2014). "Actress Rosie Perez reveals troubled past in new memoir 'Handbook for an Unpredictable Life'". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 18 October 2014.
12. Paybarah, Azi (27 April 2012). "Grover Cleveland and Bushwick Community high schools escape Bloomberg’s ax; 24 schools don’t". Capital New York. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
13. Gordon, Ed (27 April 2006). "Rosie Perez' U.S.-Puerto Rico Documentary" (Audio interview). NPR. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
14. Udovitch, Mim. "I, Latina". Vibe (Dec 1993 – Jan 1994). Retrieved 18 October 2014.
15. "Overview for Rosie Perez – Milestones". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
16. Hill, Logan (7 April 2008). "How I Made It: Spike Lee on 'Do the Right Thing'". New York. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
17. Ebert, Roger (17 February 1999). "Rosie Perez On A Roll". Roger Ebert. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
18. Hernandez, Ernio (30 January 2003). "Rosie Perez and Joe Pantoliano Officially Bow as Bway's Frankie and Johnny Jan. 30". Playbill. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
19. Weinraub, Bernard (22 March 1994). "Quake or No Quake, the Show Must Go On". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
20. Stevens, Brad (April 2000). "Perdita Durango: A Case Study". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
21. O'Connor, Mickey (20 August 2009). "SVU Exclusive: Rosie Perez, Garret Dillahunt to Anchor Explosive Episode". TV Guide. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
22. Parvizi, Lauren (19 July 2010). "Rosie Perez goes public with neck scar". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
23. Oldenburg, Ann (15 July 2010). "Rosie Perez injured doing her own 'SVU' stunt". USA Today. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
24. Gorta, William J. (18 May 2011). "Actress Rosie Perez sues over injuries suffered filming ‘Law and Order: SVU’". New York Post. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
25. Marzulli, John (1 February 2012). "Rosie Perez OKs settlement after injury on 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 18 October 2014.
26. Ortega, Mark E. (12 June 2013). "Famous Fight Fan: Rosie Perez | RingTV". RingTV. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
27. "Rosie Perez and Nicolle Wallace Join The View as co-hosts". ABC. 3 September 2014.
28. Gliatto, Tom (15 September 2014). "Rosie Perez Is the Best Thing About the New View, Says People's Critic". People. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
29. Terrero, Nina (5 September 2014). "7 reasons why Rosie Perez is perfect for the 'The View'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
30. Moreno, Carolina (17 October 2014). "Rosie Perez Says Latin Hollywood Told Her Not To ‘Rock The Boat'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
31. Rivas, Jorge (16 October 2012). "Rosie Pérez Talks Romney and Love on Maddow [Video]". Colorlines. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
32. Aurthur, Kate (11 June 2006). "IFC Steps Up Its Commitment to Original Programming". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
33. "Artistic Board Chair Rosie Perez was featured in the Reader’s Digest "Best of America" issue | Urban Arts Partnership". Urban Arts Partnership. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
34. Santiago, Solmarie (3 April 2014). "Madonna and 2-Pac Hookup Revealed by Rosie Perez on The Wendy Williams Show". Latin Post. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
35. Diaz, Evelyn (22 August 2013). "Rosie Perez Is Married | News". BET. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
36. Williams, Ashley (16 September 2013). "Rosie Perez Ties The Knot In Vegas!". HipHollywood. Retrieved 26 October 2013.

External links

• Rosie Perez at the Internet Movie Database
• Rosie Perez at the Internet Broadway Database
• Rosie Perez at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Rosie Perez on Twitter